EX-PRESIDENT SAYS COMPANY'S OFFICIALS TRIED TO GET BUSH'S HELP IN GAINING DEFENSE PACTS

An ex-Wedtech president testified that company officials met with George Bush in an effort to cut out competitors for government contracts, but a Bush spokesman said the vice president doesn't remember meeting them.

Anthony Guariglia, the former president of the now-defunct defense contractor, also testified in Rep. Mario Biaggi's racketeering trial that Wedtech officials gave $200,000 to President Reagan's 1984 campaign.Guariglia told the U.S. District Court trial that competitors from Texas and Puerto Rico disappeared after the company officials were introduced to Bush.

"Was the purpose of being introduced to Vice President Bush to get him to eliminate Wedtech's competition in Texas and Puerto Rico?" defense attorney Alan R. Kaufman asked during cross examination.